Jesper Kyd Jakobson (born February 3, 1972 in Hørsholm, Denmark) is a Danish video game, television and film score composer. He composed soundtracks for the Assassin's Creed Series, Hitman Series, Borderlands Series, Darksiders II and State of Decay. His scores use orchestra, choir, acoustic manipulations and electronic soundscapes.Early yearsKyd started playing piano at an early age. Later, he took several years of training in classical guitar, note reading, choir singing and classical composition for piano. However, he is mostly self-taught. Kyd started using computers for composing on a Commodore 64 at age 14, and later an Amiga. He and Mikael Balle became members of the demo group Silents DK, and later started collaborating with a group of coders known as Crionics. They eventually made the Amiga demoscene production Hardwired. Kyd also created and scored the first wild demo, Global Trash 2, together with Mikael Balle.Kyd then left the demo scene and started to work as a game musician. He and others created the computer game developer Zyrinx and a game called Sub-Terrania for the Sega Genesis.The team relocated to Boston. Kyd composed music for two additional Zyrinx titles, Red Zone and Scorcher and the music for two externally developed games, Amok and The Adventures of Batman and Robin. When their game publisher Scavenger went bankrupt the Zyrinx team dissolved.FreelanceMany former Zyrinx members returned to Denmark to start IO Interactive. Kyd moved to New York City and set up his own sound studio in Manhattan called "Nano studios". He worked as a freelance computer game musician.He worked on Bioware's MDK2: Armageddon, Shiny's Messiah and IO's Hitman: Codename 47. The soundtrack to Codename 47 was based on urban soundscapes and ethnic instrumentation.He then recorded the soundtrack of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin with 110 musicians of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra and Choir.He recorded the score for the action/adventure Freedom Fighters with the Hungarian Radio choir. It was described by Film Score Monthly Magazine as "Vangelis on steroids". Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards nominated him for Best Use of Soundtrack, and Game Audio Network Guild Awards nominated him for "Best Original Vocal Song – Choral" (for Main Title and March of the Empire). Leading video game web site GameSpot awarded Freedom Fighters "Best Music of the Year".He used modern electronica and symphonic and choral music in Hitman: Contracts. It was awarded Best Original Music by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at the 2005 BAFTA Games Awards and won Best Cinematic / Cut-Scene Audio at the 2005 G.A.N.G. Awards.Kyd then provided the music for Ubisoft’s Assassin's Creed, created by developer Patrice Desilets. He produced a cinematic score for Altair’s Middle-Eastern story. He then produced the music for Assassin's Creed II, recorded in Los Angeles.Kyd wrote the soundtrack for the action/adventure Darksiders II, notable for being his first entirely non-digital score.Kyd lives in Burbank, California and is represented by The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc..WorksKyd has composed music for many different forms of visual and non-visual media:Games2013 - State of Decay2013 - Heroes and Generals2013 - Borderlands 2 Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon's Keep DLC2012 - Borderlands 2 Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage DLC2012 - Borderlands 2 Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty DLC2012 - Borderlands 22012 - Darksiders II2012 - Soulcalibur V (provided a remix of the track "Venice Rooftops" from Assassin's Creed II)2011 - Forza Motorsport 42011 - Assassin's Creed: Revelations (with Lorne Balfe)2010 - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood2009 - Assassin's Creed II2009 - Borderlands2008 - The Chronicles of Spellborn2008 - The Club (main theme)2007 - Assassin's Creed2007 - Unreal Tournament 3 (with Rom Di Prisco)2007 - Kane & Lynch: Dead Men2006 - Hitman: Blood Money2006 - Gears of War (concept music)2005 - Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (cinematics & additional in-game music)2004 - Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2 (songs .59 -remix-, Istanbul café, and Red Room)2004 - Robotech: Invasion2004 - Hitman: Contracts2004 - McFarlane's Evil Prophecy2003 - Freedom Fighters2003 - Brute Force2002 - Hitman 2: Silent Assassin2002 - Minority Report: The Video Game2001 - Shattered Galaxy2001 - The Nations: Alien Nations 22000 - Hitman: Codename 472000 - Messiah2000 - MDK22000 - Soldier (unreleased)1999 - Time Tremors1996 - Scorcher1996 - Amok1995 - The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game)1995 - Heavy Machinery (unreleased Sega 32X game)1994 - Red Zone1993 - Sub-Terrania1993 - Pro Moves Soccer1990 - U.S.S. John YoungMovies2010 - A Perfect Soldier2008 - Staunton Hill2007 - La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928, new score)2006 - Sweet Insanity2003 - Night All Day2002 - Pure2002 - Death of a SaleswomanShort films2011 - Somnolence2010 - The Auctioneers2006 - Virus2006 - Impulse2003 - Cycle2002 - Pure2002 - Paper Plane Man2002 - Day Pass2001 - Going with Neill2001 - The Lion Tamer2000 - OrganizmTV series2013 - Métal Hurlant Chronicles Season 22012 - Métal Hurlant Chronicles Season 12009 - The ResistanceTrailersGame of Thrones TV SeriesSouth Pacific / Wild PacificConan the BarbarianAssassin's Creed II E3 trailerAssassin's Creed TV launch trailerAssassin's Creed cello TV trailerAssassin's Creed E3 trailerGears of War E3 trailerV For Vendetta (Warner Bros. Pictures)Hitman: Blood Money TV trailersHitman: Contracts TV trailersHitman 2: Silent Assassin TV trailersFreedom Fighters TV trailersAwards and nominations2012 The Current (MPR) - Best Video game score of 2012 Winner2012 Games Radar Platinum Chalice Awards - Best Soundtrack2012 MSNBC Ingame Awards - Best Video Game Music Nomination2012 GameSpot Best Soundtracks of 20122012 MTV Multiplayer Best Music of 2012 - Honorable Mention2012 PC Gamer Best Music Of The Year - Honorable Mention2012 Telegraph Video Game Awards - Best Original Score Nomination2012 Global Music Awards - Best Original Score Winner2012 Machinema Awards - Best Original Score Nomination2012 GameZone GOTY Awards - Best Original Soundtrack Nomination2012 G4TV X-Play Awards - Best Soundtrack Nomination2012 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Best Original Score (VG) Nomination2012 Canadian Video Game Awards - Best Original Music Nomination2012 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Original Score Nomination2011 GameSpot Readers Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Music Winner2011 GameSpot Editors Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Music Nomination2011 Gold Spirit Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination2011 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences - Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Nomination2011 Game Audio Network Guild Awards - Music of the Year Nomination2011 Soundtrack Geek Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination2010 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Best Original Score (VG) Nomination2010 Gold Spirit Awards: Best Video Game Score Winner2010 BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts - Best Original Score Nomination2010 International Film Music Critics Association - Best Original Video Game Score Nomination2010 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences - Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Nomination2010 Game Audio Network Guild Awards - Music of the Year Winner2009 IGN Best of the Year Awards - Best Soundtrack Winner (PlayStation 3)2009 GameSpot Readers Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Original Score Winner2009 GameSpot Editors Choice Special Achievement Awards - Best Original Score Nomination2009 Hollywood Music in Media Awards - Best Original Score (VG) Winner2009 Gamespy Editors' Choice Awards - Best Original Music Winner2009 Spike Video Game Awards - Best Original Score Nomination2009 G4TV X-Play Awards - Best Original Soundtrack Nomination2009 Machinima Awards - Best Original Score Nomination2008 BAFTA - Best Original Music Nomination (British Academy Award)2008 Hollywood Music Awards - Best Original Score Nomination2008 Golden Joystick Awards - Soundtrack of the Year Nomination2008 ELAN Awards - Best Video Game Score Winner2007 GameSpot - Best Video Game Score Nomination2007 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations, including Music of the Year2006 MTV Video Music Awards - Best Video Game Score Nomination2006 IGN Best Original Score Winner2006 Golden Joystick Awards - Best Game Soundtrack Nomination2006 4 G.A.N.G. Nominations Including Music of the Year2005 BAFTA - Winner Best Original Music Award (British Academy Award)2005 G.A.N.G. Winner Best Music for Cinematic/Cut Scene2005 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Freedom Fighters Soundtrack CD2004 Billboard Awards Best Music Nomination 20042004 IGN - Best Soundtrack Nomination2004 3 G.A.N.G. Nominations2004 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Hitman Contracts Soundtrack CD2003 GameSpot - Best Soundtrack of the Year Winner2003 Game Reactor - Best Original Soundtrack Winner2003 PSE2 Editor's Choice GOLD - Hitman 2 Soundtrack CD2002 Games Agent - Best Original Soundtrack Winner2002 GameSpot - Best Original Soundtrack of the Year Nomination2002 X-Sages - Soundtrack of the Year Nomination2002 IGN - Best Sound Nomination2002 Action Vault - Outstanding Achievement In Music2002 Bolt Games - Bolt Games Music Award